Daily Madden: No Place For Flopping In The NBA

LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat is guarded by Lance Stephenson #1 of the Indiana Pacers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2013 NBA Playoffs on May 30, 2013 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – LeBron James of the Heat and David West and Lance Stephenson of the Pacers were fined $5,000 each for flopping during their Eastern Conference playoff game Tuesday.

It’s against NBA rules to exaggerate contact in an attempt to draw a foul. “You do anything you can to win — within the rules,” John Madden told the KCBS Radio morning crew. “It looks like to me that the NBA is trying to get (flopping) out. I mean they have a rule against it. When you really get serious on something, when you really don’t want something in your game, you start to fine it. And that’s what they’re doing.”

Some players defend flopping, but Madden said it isn’t good for the sport. “Maybe if your team wins or gets a foul called you’re happy, but I don’t think anyone says ‘Boy, look at that flop! You know that guy ought to be all-NBA.’ That’s not something you should be proud of.”

Miami won Thursday night’s game and leads the series 3-2.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals didn’t finish their inter-league game until 3:15 Friday morning after a four and a half hour rain delay. “That’s a problem with these (inter-league) schedules,” Madden said. “If you miss a game, they’re really, really hard to make up,” because the teams aren’t scheduled to play again. “You get to a problem where the make-up is impossible, so you have to get through it.”

The Royals beat the Cardinals 4-2.

Daily Madden

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